Fire blows from a fogging machine as a worker sprays fumigation vapour to stem the spread of dengue virus along a street in Peshawar, Pakistan, October 18, 2021. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

People look at “The Fall” sculpture by Steve Cramb on display between Bondi and Tamarama beach as part of the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney on October 21, 2022. (Photo by Muhammad Farooq/AFP Photo)

Dancers pose after performing “El Macho Raton”, “El Toro Huaco” and “El Gueguense” traditional dances during San Sebastian festivity in Diriamba, province of Carazo, some 50 km south of Managua on January 19, 2016. Devotees of Saint Sebastian dance in traditional costumes between the cities of Diriamba and Dolores, which are some three kilometers away. (Photo by Inti Ocon/AFP Photo)

Ukraine's Ruslana performs her song Wild Dance ands wins the Eurovision Song Contest on May 15, 2004 at the Abdi Ipekci Stadium, in Istanbul, Turkey. The event – hosted by last year's winners Turkey – also celebrates the 30th Anniversary of ABBA's win. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

An Iraqi Army member launches a rocket during the operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists in Jadid neighborhood as the clashes between Iraqi Army and Daesh terrorists continue in Mosul, Iraq on April 2, 2017. (Photo by Hemn Baban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

People run in panic after a coalition airstrike hit Islamic State fighters positions in Tahrir neighbourhood of Mosul, Iraq, November 17, 2016. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Workers hang hundreds of color-dyed sheets of cloth on a bamboo framework to dry in a dyeing factory in Narayanganj, Bangladesh on May 23, 2023. The drying process usually takes 4 hours, with each set of 200 pieces at a time to dry in temperatures over 42 degrees Celsius. Workers use hats for protection from the scorching heat because they have to constantly turn the colorful fabrics so that they dry perfectly in the sunlight. (Photo by Joy Saha/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.